Jackals Fall Short

Trois Rivieres, QC -Unable to hold on to a 4-1 lead, the New Jersey Jackals suffered one of their toughest losses of the season, dropping a series to Trois Rivieres, by the score of 10-7 on Sunday, and falling to 21-19 on the season.

Everything was looking good early in this game for New Jersey; they scratched out a run in each of the games' first four innings, highlighted by a solo homerun to dead-center field off the bat of Bryan Sabatella.

However, all the good feeling was quickly erased when Trois Rivieres plated four runs in the bottom of the fourth.

The inning started beautifully when Chris Curran made a spectacular grab in center field to rob Steve Brown of extra bases, However back-to-back doubles by Jeremy Nowak and Cam Kneeland plated in a run to make it 4-2. Then, Jon Smith blasted a two-run homer to left to tie the game at four, changing the entire complexion of the game and inning.

From there, starter Jon Lucas lost control of his pitches. He gave up a single to Luis Piterson, and walked David Cooper and Emerson Frostad before walking Drew Miller with the bases loaded to drive in the go-ahead run for Trois Rivieres.

After a promising start to the day, Lucas lasted only four innings giving up five runs on seven hits. He lost for the first time this year, (3-1).

It didn't get better in the fifth inning for the Jackals, as the Aigles plated three runs on reliever Mike Francisco, with RBI's hits going to Jon Smith, David Cooper and a ground out by Emerson Frostad to make it 8-4.

The Jackals best chance to get back into the game came in the sixth inning, when they loaded the bases with one out, but couldn't drive anyone in as Aigles starter Garret Bullock got out of trouble without a run scoring.

The Jackals did plate in three runs in the ninth, when Jeremy Barnes laced a two run single, and Jose Cuevas came into score on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 10-7, but it was not enough to avoid the defeat.

The Jackals return to the States where they will meet up with the Rockland Boulders for a four-game series in Pamona, New York starting on Tuesday.

The New Jersey Jackals, proud members of the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball, play their home games at Yogi Berra Stadium located on the campus of Montclair State University in Little Falls, NJ. 2013 single-game tickets, season tickets, mini-plans and group outings are available by calling 973-746-7434. Visit the Jackals online at www.jackals.com.